Those who regularly swap between their phone and a Windows 10 PC will soon be able to more easily resume what they were doing on the other device.
Microsoft has added a new feature that allows iPhone and Android handset users to save searches or articles accessed via the Cortana app, so they can resume browsing on their Windows 10 PC. The feature is available to those testing Windows 10 under the Windows Insider program's 'Fast Ring', and will be made available to all Windows 10 users from October 17, when the Fall Creators Update begins rolling out.
Dona Sarkar, head of Microsoft's Windows Insider Program, says this new ability will complement existing features that share sync reminders, notifications and SMS between devices.
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Microsoft has previously talked about more ambitious plans for helping users swap between phones and Windows PCs, including letting someone resume work on a document between devices, and a cloud clipboard that would copy images, links and text between a Windows 10 PC and Android, iOS or Windows smartphone. Not all of these will be added to Windows 10 by the Fall Creators Update however, with the cloud clipboard due in future feature update.
The Windows Insider update, build 16291, also introduced a range of fixes to Windows 10. Perhaps the most major was a patch for Surface Pro 3 devices to stop them getting stuck in an unbootable state, where the device endlessly shows the 'spinning dots' loading screen. Other fixes resolve problems in the Edge browser and its developer tools, as well as the Skype UWP app. A list of fixes is available here.
The Fall Creators Update will introduce a series of features to Windows 10 PCs, as well as a new look, and will bring a very popular feature back to Microsoft's OneDrive cloud storage, with the new Files on Demand option letting users see all their files on OneDrive, whether those files are stored on the device or not. Batteries on newer laptops and tablets should also last longer when running Windows 10, due to the new Power Throttling feature.
The resume feature on the Cortana app.
Read more on Windows 10...
- Windows 10: The smart person's guide
- Windows 10: New feature sees Microsoft blur the line between Windows and Linux
- Windows 10: Five reasons to stick with Microsoft's flagship OS
- Windows 10: Five reasons to avoid Microsoft's flagship OS
- 20 big changes coming to Windows 10 in 2017
- Windows 10 Cloud: Could this mystery OS be Microsoft's answer to Chromebooks?
- Windows 10: Microsoft promises updates will soon be smaller and easier to delay
- Windows 10 Anniversary Update: Watch out for these nasty surprise
About Nick Heath
Nick Heath is chief reporter for TechRepublic. He writes about the technology that IT decision makers need to know about, and the latest happenings in the European tech scene.
Full Bio
Nick Heath is chief reporter for TechRepublic. He writes about the technology that IT decision makers need to know about, and the latest happenings in the European tech scene.
